A radical move to bring the fuel cell car into mass-production is already yielding valuable fresh knowledge and expertise in specialist manufacturing techniques at Honda, writes Maurice Glover.
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But the Japanese maker still has a long way to go before it is able to close the yawning cost gap that separates the transport of today and tomorrow.
No-one is more aware of that than Sachito Fujimoto, Honda’s Mr Fuel Cell and the engineer behind FCX Clarity, the pacesetting model that has just embarked on a major European tour in support of the motor industry’s call for a viable hydrogen supply infrastructure to be in place by 2015.
As two pristine examples of the flagship sedan set out on an intensive programme of demonstrations to politicians, fuel supply executives, journalists and other public opinion formers, Fujimoto acknowledged the present huge difference in cost between the fuel cell and petrol or diesel power.
“This presents us with a considerable challenge – but we see it as our duty to do all we can to bridge the difference and bring down the cost of the cell. We just have to do it because what we’re talking about here is of great importance…it represents the next era in transportation,” he said.
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By GlobalDataDespite being launched as a series production model last summer, the role of the Clarity is to steer Honda through a dramatic learning curve in manufacturing as well as providing real-world feedback from selected users in leasing programmes in the US and Japan.
Volumes are low – fewer than 30 examples have been built so far and Fujimoto, the company’s research and development senior chief engineer, revealed that no more than 200 units are due to be produced over the three-year exercise.
“The numbers are low, but the fact is that the line is running for a proper mass-production vehicle and we are learning so many things every day – things that I obviously don’t wish to make public.
“Of course, in time we will be involved in the production of thousands of units. I can’t say when that will happen, but obviously, it is taking us a long time to assemble each car. When I compare our production rate with the volume achieved in our factory at Swindon, where a vehicle comes from the line every two minutes, it is clear we have to accelerate our processes by a factor of hundreds.
“Building a fuel cell stack is a very complex series of operations that take time. The simplest way to increase volume would be to duplicate the stack production units by a large amount, but that is neither practical nor feasible from an economic viewpoint.
“That means we must continue to work to effect cost reductions as well as further increase efficiency – our target has to be to bring the Clarity to a level where it could be offered as a viable option to conventionally-powered vehicles of similar size and specification,” he said.
Fujimoto was speaking in Germany as Honda Motor Europe put two examples of its fuel cell car, the FCX Clarity, on the road to back a campaign launched by car manufacturers for support from politicians, fuel supply industry executives and public influencers for a hydrogen supply infrastructure to be in place by 2015.
Both he and company European engineering research spokesman Thomas Brachmann describe the demonstration drive programme as a vital part of the campaign.
Said Brachmann: “This is the classic ‘chicken and egg’ problem that always exists for a new type of powertrain. It was true for diesel in the past and is true for electricity, natural gas and hydrogen. But the good thing is that hydrogen does not differ so much from natural gas in terms of infrastructure – safety measures are something else, but a lot of the gas supply technologies can be applied.
“The supply industry usually hesitates to start something fresh when they have no sign of business, so we have to generate the business case for hydrogen. And we have – major manufacturers have signed a letter of intent to introduce 100,000 fuel cell cars to the market by 2015. In reality, this is figure is likely to be much higher, so we hope this will give the industry sufficient confidence to start building the infrastructure.”
According to Brachmann, Honda is confident in fuel cell mobility, regardless of the present infrastructure, and remains unconvinced of the effectiveness of the plug-in electric cars favoured by rivals.
“This is a solution involving the use of a different type of fuel. It requires energy storage – the battery – and while power density is fine, energy density is not so good. The plug-in is not undermining our confidence because it has a restricted range.
“Our development of the fuel cell car was the result of the poor experience we witnessed with batteries between 1995 and 1999, when lots of electric cars ended up parked in the desert in California because they were not used anymore. The energy density of batteries needs to be improved,” he said.
Asked how long it is likely to be before Honda is able to make the cost of its fuel cell cars more comparable to those with conventional motors, he said: “Our hope is to reach price comparability in 10 to 15 years’ time.
“We expect to enter serious production from 2015 but not with the Clarity. This car has good performance, all the features people want and an acceptable range of operation. But it has a dedicated platform that is expensive because the tooling is for this car only.
“Production of the fuel cell stacks is largely automated and continual refinements mean we’re always having to change the tooling and production methods, but that’s how we are gaining our experience.
“We’re on a massive learning curve. The fuel cell involves electro-chemistry and not mechanical engineering, but it will present us with lots of new opportunities.”
